Functional Groups Indicative Of Reactive Hazards

The presence of certain functional groups is considered an indicator of reactivity. This is the simplest possible reactivity screening method and serves as a guideline for further analysis. For example, chemicals containing the following functional groups can be considered potentially reactive:

-NO2 : organic nitro compounds
-O-O-, -O-OH : organic/inorganic peroxide and hydroperoxide compounds
-C?C- : Triple bonded carbon atoms as in acetylene and acetylenic compounds

A few of the reactive groups are summarized in table below.

Groups Containing Carbon	Groups Containing Oxygen	Groups Containing Nitrogen
Acetylenic compounds	Peroxyacids and salts	Fluorodinitromethyl compounds
Metal acetylides	Peroxides	N-metal derivatives
Diazirines	Peroxyesters	Azo compounds
Diazo compounds	Dithionites	Trizenes
Nitroso and Nitro-compounds	Ester monomers	Tetrazole
Acyl or alkyl nitriles	Amide monomers	Azides
Epoxides	–	Hydroxylamine and salts
Metal fulminates or oximates	–	N-haloamides
Alkene monomers, -(CH-CH)n-	–	–

To learn more about evaluating reactive chemical hazards, please continue to follow this series.